How do seniors take to Alexa?
Shirley Crowder lives by herself in Weinberg Place, a part of the CHAI (Comprehensive Housing Assistance, Inc.) community in Northwest Baltimore. Though her son and daughter live nearby and she sees them frequently, it’s not the same as having someone in the apartment with her. Welcome home, Alexa! Alexa is Amazon’s voice-activated digital “know it all.” Thanks to a pilot... READ MORE
Beacon Links & Apps – May 2018
Leonard Bernstein centennial In celebration of the 100th anniversary of Leonard Bernstein’s birth, the Library of Congress has made available online for the first time musical manuscripts and scrapbooks from the legendary composer’s personal and professional archives housed in the library. The public can now access for free more than 3,700 items — including photos, writings,... READ MORE
Even silent smartphones drain our brains
Imagine you were asked to complete a series of math problems, ones just hard enough to require your attention and focus, but nothing you couldn’t handle. Now, imagine you were intermittently interrupted from these math problems and asked to remember a random list of letters. This might be even tougher. It’s reasonable to assume your performance on these tasks might be impaired by... READ MORE
Not-so-artificial intelligence needs people
There’s a dirty little secret about artificial intelligence (AI): It’s powered by hundreds of thousands of real people. From makeup artists in Venezuela to women in conservative parts of India, people around the world are doing the digital equivalent of needlework — drawing boxes around cars in street photos, tagging images, and transcribing snatches of speech that computers... READ MORE
How websites and apps track you – and what you can do about it
Though Facebook gets the attention because of a recent privacy gaffe, the social network is far from alone in collecting massive amounts of data on you to help marketers sell you stuff. Google, for one, also does extensive tracking to power its advertising engines. And many other websites and apps run ads sold by Facebook and Google and exchange data with them. Beyond that, plenty of... READ MORE
Beacon Links & Apps – April 2018
Edgar Allan Poe monthly podcast WYPR in Baltimore will air the first in a series of new podcasts by the National Edgar Allan Poe Theatre on the Air on Tuesday, April 17, with its production of “The Tell-Tale Heart.” The series features fresh, 20- to 30-minute podcast adaptations of the best-known works of Edgar Allan Poe, including “The Black Cat,” “Berenice” and “The Cask ... READ MORE
Downsides of electronic bank statements
Electronic bank statements have virtues — saving trees, keeping your desk uncluttered — but they also have a vice: They can be easy to forget. You could instead get paper statements delivered by mail, an option that’s becoming less popular as technology gets better. But Nessa Feddis, senior vice president for consumer protection and payments at the American Bankers Association,... READ MORE
Beacon Links & Apps – March 2018
Online video support groups Connecting with others who share similar diseases or challenges as yourself can help you feel less alone and offer coping tips. The new website, aGroupForME, makes it easier to join a wide range of support groups, including ones that address addiction, depression, cancer, divorce and PTSD. There is currently no charge to use the service Using group video... READ MORE
Secure passwords with less headache
Security experts have warned for years that to protect our online accounts we need to change passwords frequently and make sure that those passwords are “complex” — meaning, filled with letters, numbers and random characters. But that advice may have done more harm than good. Such passwords are nearly impossible to remember (try recalling something like “Tri3cer&top$”). So, ... READ MORE
Stores’ floors may track your every move
The next phase in data collection is right under your feet. Ads you click on online give retailers valuable insight into consumer behavior, but what can they learn from your footsteps? It’s a question Milwaukee-based startup Scanalytics is helping businesses explore, with floor sensors that track people’s movements. The sensors can also be used in office buildings to reduce energy ... READ MORE
Technology 2024
